Probably no artist has left as big a mark on my adolescent years as Paul Weller. From huge Jam fan / Style Council fan — to playing in bands heavily influenced by his writing. There’s probably millions of those who share similar stories as mine across the Atlantic, but over here in America, I’d guess there’s maybe a baker’s dozen of us — tops.

He didn’t seem to feel compelled to make the effort over here. Very few tours — and as a result he was generally relegated to alternative radio stations and his vinyl got stocked mostly just in the big urban areas.

As a college student studying abroad, I was fortunate enough to see him perform twice in London as The Paul Weller Movement (this was the period in 1991 after the Style Council split, when he’d released the ‘Into Tomorrow’ EP on his own indie label — Freedom High Records). Fabulous shows: one in a small venue off of Portobello Road (Morrissey was rumored in the tabloids that week to have been in the audience, but I didn’t see him — and seriously — who’s going to miss seeing Morrissey wallowing around 🙂 ), and at Brixton Academy — a show which I believe is or was available on DVD in the UK.

I saw him play again when I was living in New York City — probably in 1992 or 1993. Any fond memories of your own seeing Paul Weller live in one of his various incarnations? Please share …

Anyways, here’s an amazing cover of a Nile Rodgers song (Sister Sledge/Chic) that Paul did on his 2004 album Studio 150. The single is entitled, “Thinking of You”. If you have a pulse, you will love this.

ENJOY!:

If you’d like to download “Thinking of You,” you can find the single here:

Note: It appears Paul didn’t bother to make his excellent Studio 150 — an album of covers — available for download on iTunes. Paul, Paul, Paul … technology has finally made it easy for you to get your music to Americans — unlike in the old vinyl days when I’d have to make pilgrimages to find your stuff. Get with the program already …